Six nabbed for smuggling, subsidised cooking oil worth over half a million seized

PUTRAJAYA: Six men, including three foreigners, believed to be part of a subsidised cooking oil smuggling syndicate, were arrested during an Ops Tiris raid at two premises located at the Sg Lalang industrial area in Sg Petani, Kedah on Sunday (April 9).

Domestic Trade and Cost of Living director-general Datuk Azman Adam said 31,000 litres of subsidised diesel worth RM579,050 was seized from the two locations that were used for storage and transferring of fuel.

He said at the first location, 3,000 litres of diesel worth RM34,450 was found in a tank but the premises was deserted.

The six individuals, aged between 24 and 49, were arrested at the second location while they were busy transferring diesel from a lorry into a tank, amounting to 28,000 litres and worth RM544,600, he said.

"The syndicate’s modus operandi is to use tankers carrying chemicals to obscure the authorities and the public,” said Azman on Tuesday (April 11).

Besides diesel, equipment such as motorised pumps, connecting hoses, flow meters, as well as business documents of receipts and record books were also seized for further investigation, he said.

The case is being investigated under the Supply Control Act (AKB) 1961 to identify the individuals or companies involved as well as the diesel re-distribution chain, including the source of the diesel.

Azman said based on the enforcement statistics of Ops Tiris from March 1 to April 9 this year, a total of 4,054 inspections were carried out and 1.60 million litres of subsidised diesel worth RM3.56mil was seized. - Bernama